All of Delaware and much of the Tri-State area have been hit with an early spring snowstorm that began late Sunday night and was expected to last into Monday afternoon.

The snow came thanks to a low press system that approached from the southwest, putting the Mid-Atlantic on a winter weather advisory, according to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, N.J.

The National Weather Service predicted the snow would fall heavily at times in the morning, then taper off in the afternoon. By the end of the day, Delaware would have seen 2 to 4 inches with some isolated areas receiving as much 5 inches, weather service meteorologists said. The greatest accumulations would be on unpaved surfaces.

Winter weather advisories meant driving would be difficult for local motorists, who were urged to proceed on the roads with extreme caution.

Indeed, more than 400 work DelDOT crews had been out on the roads since 3 a.m. Monday morning applying salt, plowing and monitoring the road conditions, said Jim Westhoff, a spokesman for the Delaware Department of Transportation.

Westhoff reminded drivers that some of the troubled areas would include overpasses and bridges that tended to freeze first given their suspension in mid air.

The National Weather Service also issued a coastal flood advisory from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. for the Atlantic Coast, Inland Bays and lower Delaware Bay.

Residents were urged to call 911 for any emergencies that were life threatening, Westhoff said. However, for non-life-threatening emergencies and for requests to travel by automobile, state residents could call their county's Emergency Operations Center to request to be picked up and transported, a service made available only in extreme weather conditions. The numbers to call are: